Hello, dearies! We have here another powerful edition of the mini reviews post =D This time, however, the macro theme will be Young Adult books that I have read recently =)
Just remembering that the mini reviews deal is a combination of inspirations from Cait, of The Paper Fury, and from Lindsey, of @thepagemistress, and that I do those with books that were good, but weren’t unforgettable =)
In this post, you’ll find mini reviews for:
Elizabeth Rudnick – A Frozen Heart
Emily Rodda – The Key to Rondo (Rondo #1)
G. K. DeRosa – Wilder Destiny (The Guardian #2)
John Connolly – The Book of Lost Things
Kiera Cass – The Siren
Laini Taylor – Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)
Shannon Hale – The Unfairest of Them All (Ever After High: Storybook of Legends #2)
Good afternoon, peeps! Today I won’t provoke almost you all with the delightful summer temperatures I’m experiencing during my vacation #sorrynotsorryforthebrag, haha!
This Tuesday, I felt like analyzing some of the books’ sceneries I’ve been seeing. I’m an eternal rebel, so my theme for the day is Most Vivid Book Worlds/Settings!
JUST LOOK WHAT IS BACK!! THE TBR OF THE WEEK, OMG!!! ❤
Sorry, it was kind of rude to begin the post screaming at you lovelies, but last time I was able to do a TBR of the Week post was on June 19th. SO. LONG. AGO. I needed to celebrate, haha! Hope everyone is having a kick ass weekend!
My chosen book of the day is The Key to Rondo, first book in the Rondo series by awesome Emily Rodda! I just started it last night, to be honest, but it’s too interesting for me to pass the opportunity of talking about it, haha! My cousin Walter was cool enough to lend his copy for me, so thanks, Walter =D Love you, man!
Hello, there! Welcome to another TBR of the Week! As the blog has been growing a lot lately (thabnk you, guys! You are awesome and I love you!!), I decided I’ll do a quick recap of what is the TBR of the Week section and then talk about my chosen one 😀
TBR of the Week is a Sunday post in which I spotlight a book that is sitting on my TBR and tell you guys why it is there, waiting for me 🙂 It works as a kind of book recommendation day? Anyway, sounded better in my head when I started doing it, haha!
This week I chose the fourth volume in the Rowan of Rin series, by Emily Rodda: Rowan and the Zebak!
Hi, there! I *finally* sat down to write the last review on my reading marathon for Rowan of Rin series!! Yay *–* Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal is the third book in the Rowan of Rin series, by awesome Emily Rodda ❤
All was well in Rin until Rowan and his mother’s summoning to Maris, the sea shore village. Their source of magic and power, a mysterious Crystal, is in danger as its keeper is dying and, for political reasons, the task of picking up another keeper falls on Rowan’s family hands.
As it usually goes regarding the candidates for the position, the mission is risky and dangerous for Rowan and his mother, but they have no choice. If Maris fall, the whole land will be easy prey for the Zebak to conquer.
The thing is, Rowan’s mother is poisoned on the first hours of the competition and Rowan has to take her place and safe her life. His only help are the three people suspect of poisoning his mother.
Will Rowan be able to think clearly enough to safe his mom? Will he be able to choose the right person to be the next keeper of the crystal?
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
I just wanted to start this review by saying that things got even more intense so sudden on this book that I actually shivered a lot of times and was left second-guessing even Rowan, the main character. I WAS LEFT SECOND GUESSING BY A BOOK THAT IS RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN! I’m amazed with Emily Rodda’s writing skills. She proves that a good children’s book is never silly on the eyes of an adult, haha! I mean, this is a middle grade book, but still. If this volume was any indication, I’m positive that things will get even darker in the next two volumes and, knowing Emily as I do, the end will blow my mind and leave me hangover, haha! But without further ado, FIVE STARS! ❤
The narrative follows the previous’ volumes style, always in third person from Rowan’s point of view. I really like how he is growing up and maturing little by little on each book and how he manages to remain true to his feelings and beliefs even when facing the most terrifying situations. AND WITHOUT STOP BEING A KID! HOW DO YOU DO THAT, RODDA?!
The plot got more complex this time. As a web of lies is in front of Rowan’s eyes, we can’t be really sure of anything until the very end. Rowan is a great observer and very tenacious for his age, but he lives a situation that would make even an adult go insane. It’s normal to see him afraid, unsure and second-guessing even himself – and taking the reader with him. I almost ate all my nails reading, haha!
As Rowan leaves Rin once again, we meet new characters and I really wish we get to see some of them again, as they left a very good impression, haha! I loved to read about Maris and to see how they are different of Rin’s people and from the travelers. The most surprising was to see that no one cared about the differences, facing it all with normalcy and respect. It’s wonderful to see so many cultures coexisting in such a beautiful harmony. No one loses their identity and they still mix wonderfully! I wish real world was like that too, haha!
I would like to highlight how the maturing process of Rowan reflects directly on the story. As a child, he saw everything black and white. Up until the last book, he still saw a lot of things like this. On the Keeper of the Crystal, Rowan starts to understand the grey area and how to deal with it. Seriously, Rodda simply rocks hard!!! ❤
I can’t wait to put my hands on the fourth volume of the series and, if you like fantasy, adventure, riddles and wonderful protagonists, YOU HAVE TO START READING THIS SERIES!!
Thanks so much for reading! ❤ Have you read anything by Emily Rodda?
Ps: Here are the reviews for the previous volumes on Rowan of Rin:
RODDA, Emily – Rowan of Rin, Rowan of Rin #1 (review here!)
RODDA, Emily – Rowan and the Travelers, Rowan of Rin #2 (review here!)
I also made a huge post about my love for Emily Rodda, that you can check here 🙂
Hi, there! A week later, my Must-Have Edition of the Month has been chosen: the complete edition of Deltora Quest saga, from Emily Rodda ❤
If you’ve read this post, you know I’m crazy about both Deltora and Emily, haha! So, when I saw that they made a complete edition in hardcover, I went wildly nuts.
That is, until I see that there were no pictures of the real book on Google and that it was sold out in pretty much all bookish selling sites that would ship to Brazil. Now I’m just depressed over a beautiful edition that I will never even be able to look at! 😦
I’m sorry this post is so small, but the pain is real. You can check this edition on Goodreads and Amazon.
That’s it, thanks for reading! ❤ Have you ever read Deltora Quest series??
Hi, there! I’m back with the review for the second volume of the Rowan of Rin series, by Emily Rodda: Rowan and the Travelers! You can already expect the review for the third book as well, haha!
Rowan is now known on his village as the Mountain hero, but he feels far from it. It is true that the boy learned how to handle his fears on his last adventure, but he never stopped being afraid at all. To make things worse, the Travelers, the nomadic people, are back after only one year after their last visit to Rin.
The villagers of Rin suspect that the Travelers found out about Rin’s new plantation, made of a Mountain berry that Allum, a half-Traveler and half-Rin villager brought back from their journey, and want to steal it. Things couldn’t be worse.
That is, until Sheba, Rin’s old mad witch, has a vision involving a great danger involving all of them. As no one else besides Rowan listens to the woman’s advertences, soon enough Rin is in a deep sleep and the only awaken people are Rowan and Allum.
Now they desperate need the help of the Travelers, but… Can they trust each other?
The Analysis
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
I remembered only pieces of this book, so I was glued to my chair until I was finished with it, haha! Once again, I loved visiting Rin and spending some quality time with Rowan! This review will be short because of two reasons:
The narrative style continues to be third person mainly focused on Rowan’s point of view, but with glimpses of other narrators. Rowan grows up so much from one book to another, but Rodda never forgets that he is just a boy, so it is wonderful.
The plot was more complex this time and had even more mystery than before. We are now introduced to the lands beyond Rin and the Mountain and to other people, like the Travelers and the people from Maris. As this is a re-read, I don’t know which part of my brain unconsciously remembered the plot twists and which part just guessed it, so I won’t try to analyze this aspect, haha!
As the travelers arrive, the reader meets new characters and has a chance to become closer with old ones. I decided that I really like John, Allum, Marlie and Sheba, haha! Also, I loved Zeel, she was so fearless! A good side kick to Rowan on this new adventure!
I still imagine Rowan as Ronan, the Grand Chase game character, by the way.
this fellow lol
As to Zeel, she was like a young Liv Tyler on my head. A girl can dream, right? Lol
The only thing that bothered me a bit on this volume is that Rodda seems to slow the story’s rhythm down in the beginning and I don’t understand why. Rowan is not being the overthinking type, but you feel that it is taking long to see anything happen, you know? And this is a problem in a book aimed for preadolescents 😦
I still loved the second volume of Rowan of Rin and I hold my ground that this is one of the best dystopian/fantasy books that I’ve ever read, though! If you like those genres, interesting characters, mystery and is not a fan of romance (that is non-existent on Rowan of Rin series so far), you have to give this series a go!
Thank you so much for reading! ❤ Have you ever read a book by Emily Rodda?
Hi, again! I’m sorry, I’ve been reading a lot on the past few days and I can’t put up with my own rhythm to blog about them, haha! Today I bring to you another re-read: Rowan of Rin, from brilliant Emily Rodda!
Rowan always felt a stranger on his own village. People in Rin were expected to grow up handling every physic aspect of life with perfection. But not Rowan. He was always too skinny, too thin, too scared… Useless. All the kids always made fun of him. The only thing that he never failed to do was to look after the village’s bukshas, a kind of breed between cow and sheep.
Until the bukshas’ lake rans dry and no one knows why.
Rowan knows he’s not a brave man as his father was before his death and that his own mother doesn’t believe in him to be strong, but he has to save the buskhas. The only creatures that ever believed him and never made fun of him. That trusted him.
So when he’s left with no other option but to travel to the Mountain with the other six villagers, Rowan decides that he will be brave for the bukshas.
Even if it scared him to death.
The Analysis
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
If you have read this post, you know that I LOVE Emily Rodda. I’ve read the whole Deltora Quest series (all three parts of it) and then I started reading Rowan of Rin. As always, Brazilian publishers took so long between a book and other that I stopped reading it on the second book and when I got myself the third book, I could hardly remember the story at all. Hence the re-read, haha!
Rowan of Rin was everything good that I knew I had felt on my first reading and more. With real and relatable characters, a wonderful setting and life-saver riddles, it had everything that I love about a fantasy/adventure book. Five stars again ❤
The narrative is third person styled, from Rowan’s point of view most of time, but anyone can barge in during the book. Even Estrela, Rowan family’s buksha. I personally love Rowan, he’s an adorable kid ❤ He’s always true to himself, no matter how bad things look or sound. I’ll get there in a moment lol
Also, I love Rodda’s writing style. It’s so fluid, detailed and addictive! I’ve read this book in one single hour, as I didn’t remember how it ended, just some pieces of their adventure. (I also read the following book in one seating, haha! Only the third was spilt on two sittings as life is not fair.) I dare to say that the dystopian created and Rodda’s writing are the strongest points on this book.
Rodda’s main characters have a very good thing and a poor thing about them. They observe a lot and pay attention to so many nice things, but they tend to not think about themselves a lot. To this day, I’m not really sure of Rowan’s looks, haha! All people around him is easier to picture, but it’s like he’s a nice faceless boy. I mean, I imagine him just like the Grand Chase character thanks to the name, that is similar, but I don’t have a book official version, you know?
This is Ronan, from Grand Chase! I miss this game so much, the Brazilian branch was closed on 2014 😦
But there’s another catch to Rodda’s characters. Each one of them is one type of person that you’ll find on a society. There’s the optimistic, the grumpy, the honest, the cheater, the workaholic, the loner, the wise… And so on. Still, they aren’t boring one you figure out which type each one of them will be, as Rowan brings the best on each of them. He rarely judges people, as he is always occupied trying to understand them. You gotta love the boy.
Also, I really wished to know his age. Oh, well.
I feel the need of highlighting the world that Rodda created for this series. It starts small, with only the village of Rin, the bukshas’ lake and the Mountain, but keeps growing through the series, showing one more piece of it on each following book. ❤
The first map is the only one present on this book. The other appears only on the next volume (picture taken by me from the Brazilian edition of the third book in the series, Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal)
Overall, I think this is an ageless book. If you like dystopian, fantasy, adventure and doesn’t care about romance, you have to board my fangirling boat and read Rowan of Rin!
Thank you once again for reading! ❤ Have you read any books by Emily Rodda?
Good morning and welcome to an edition of Top 10 Tuesday that I won’t cheat! 😀 As you may be aware, the meme is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. My theme for today is All Time Favorites 😀
Hi, there! I finally have my TBR list for March up and running! I failed my February one a little, but this time I will get it right! (More about my failure on tomorrow’s post, haha!)
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 